Satsangs

Satsang is a compound Sanskrit word that means “keeping the company of the Self.” The Self, Awareness, is the true nature of everyone and one keeps company with it by continually meditating on it in many ways. One of the most effective methods involves discussing non-dual teachings with someone who has realized his or her identity as the Self, to get clarity with reference to Self inquiry. The satsangs posted here are the questions of many people around the world who are interested in enlightenment and find that Vedanta is their preferred means of Self knowledge. Since I am a teacher of Vedanta, a time tested means of self inquiry, I am qualified to reply to these questions.~James Swartz

No mask hides meAnd no shadow can betray meFor I shine ever more brightlyEvinced by nothing more

Than my own effulgenceI fear nothingAnd I crave nothingUntouched, Untouchable and EverywhereI am that I am

Perhaps, hereI am destined to sit on the riverbankAloneAwaiting words from the naked treesAnd decaying flowers that have lost their nectarA thousand unblinking eyes from the other sideWatching, waiting, longing.…I see themThough they cannot see meTheir mute voices and pleading eyes seek rewards of another kindIn places I know there are none to be foundTheir sighs can be heardLike moaning lost winds in a barren landscapeSearching always searchingFor an outpost of stillnessA haven of mercy resistant to all diseaseHoping to be healedMouths open and arms outstretchedMewing like the damnedTerrified of falling into the starving voidTheir beseeching smiles leave me hollow…

To believe them would make me a perpetual stranger to myselfEntombed in flesh covered boneTorn from something dark and gravely woundedAn orphan trailing pale shadowsLeading to a contemptuous mirrorAnd an insatiable hunger….(The thought brands me numb)

Demanding to knowWhere are the gossamer wingsThat my destiny foretold?

I would be forever waiting for the river to deliver them to meTo lodge them on the embankmentAt my feet

But I do not have to waitAnd I do not listen to the murmuring moansFor I know they are false

I seize the Holy wind of raw truthChoke the inertia of indifference deadI have my wingsVaulting into the blue vestibuleI soarTo trees of a richer kingdomWhose high branches suckle the sunAnd my wings follow the flightOf a different dreamTracking its heartbeatFeeling its inviolable enchantmentIt is the dream that requires no futureAnd no pastOnly the Eternal Now

My feet are no longer shackled to timeMy head no longer a window closed to infinityMy eyes no longer blindBecause I know, nowWhat salvages the exquisite tongueWith sidereal precisionAnd assembles her wild lightLike singing birds the sun…

I am that which cheats appearancesWho dreams itself awake and asleepI have seen placesAmong the stillnessCalling – like a lover’s kissTo knowWhat I have known beforeWhat I have always knownHere, now. It is always here…I am the stillnessI am the music etched in Silence

Even though serpentine fields have been my pathwayAnd some age old thoughts still wander through the corridors of the mindLike forlorn redundant ghosts in an abandoned houseStaring with glass eyesFondling the past…Their power, like an electric stormWandering aimlessly without fuelSoon to be exhausted…

I know these thoughts are deaf and muteAnd not me

I feel like a grand visionInscribed in sand

Awaiting the incoming tideWaiting to disappearFor I knowMy new found wings take meBeneath the deepest camouflageUnmasking the secret measureAnd faithless dwellings of time…They search outThe infinite spacesFor the only one who can define me…

Me

Wings are forgotten by allWho travel with their feetLines have been drawn so many timesThat we seldom see the crossing of our lossThough we feel the loss of our crossing ….

Captured by the undertow of cloudsThe gravity of skyIntoxicated

By the ambrosial allure of our earthen dungeonThe chimera of the promise of gainThe apotheosis of senescent sunlightOur only reprieveThe painless endeavour of hopes silent prayersBecause we knowWithout love and without lightWithout knowledgeOur wings, shorn of flightLeave us bereft, like newborn riversBabbling over rocksEndlessly searching,YearningFor the depths of the silent sea …

Like a flock of birds that pourFrom the horizon lineMy life has soared over this riverSearching for my wingsThere is no other key for me to turnThere is no other legend for me to faceThere are no more dreams to hope forNo more stories to tellI have found my wings

I am all that there is

I am LoveI am LightI am Existence

Contacting Shining World

For years I have happily and diligently responded to communications on the topic of Self realization. Since the publication of my book, “How to Attain Enlightenment”— currently in its third printing —and the success of this website, the volume of emails has increased considerably. Unfortunately, owing to a busy schedule of teaching and writing, I am no longer able to answer all the emails I receive in a timely fashion. However, my wife, who is also a teacher, and several well-qualified teachers we have endorsed are available to answer emails on my behalf. I encourage you to send them your questions.
— James SwartzContact Us